Tuning in

How does your body feel today - light and energetic? Strong and firm? Or heavy and sluggish? How stressed are you? And is your energy level high but sporadic or is it moderate yet constant? I had to decide how I was feeling, then and there and honestly, for a pre-facial questionnaire last week. It forced me to tune in, to ''be in the moment'' as my yoga teacher always scolds in a non-peace-and-harmony way.

I was required to assess how things felt - skin, anxiety levels, parts of body. I had to work out ''where I was at'', not what I had done to get there or what I had to do afterwards or how I wanted to be or how I thought I should be. The process made me very aware of my inner self. It was enlightening.

I thought this very appropriate as I was preparing to try the Aveda Enlightenment Facial. I was later to discover it is actually called the Aveda Enbrightenment Facial but this proved equally appropriate as my mind felt, and my skin looked, clearer after the 90-minute treatment. Aveda's new, four-step Enbrightenment skin care range is designed to reduce skin discolouration and improve clarity. Some of the products, including the cleanser ($59.95) and toner ($69.95) contain naturally derived (from oil of wintergreen, apparently) salicylic acid which gently and daily exfoliates the skin. It's all about achieving a more even skin tone but what I found the complimentary facial achieved was a more even me.

It is very rare in our busy, busy lives that many of us take the time to assess how we are. It's the sort of thing that probably should be done after that wonderful but mostly theoretical morning meditation. Maybe it could be done on that tedious but inevitable morning commute. That short questionnaire has led me to question how I look after myself day to day.

Do you make a point of ''tuning in'' to the ''real'' you in your everyday, workaday life? Have you found it beneficial? What do you do to stay in touch with yourself?

Posted
by Natasha HughesNovember 24, 2009 12:00 AM

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Natasha Hughes has been a beauty junkie since the day Santa brought some Avon 'It's a Small World After All' Indian squaw perfume (which she still has). A journalist in London and Beirut before joining The Age and rejoining Australia in 2002, Natasha cannot but succumb to the possibilities a new mascara offers and thinks people who sunbathe are idiots.